Bye 2016 - Welcome 2017

Happy New Year

Our heartfelt thanks go out to our family and friends and customers who helped make 2016 a forward looking and prosperous year.  Forward looking because we look forward to leaving behind loads of challenges, broken promises, tons of frustration and a little heartache.  Forward looking because with hard work and perseverance and extra helping hands, we enjoyed new success, solutions to pesky challenges and refilled our heart tanks.  So with open hearts and hands, renewed faith and energy, we welcome 2017.

 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

 

Winter

We lost family, friends and canine partners this year.  My mother died in February and I did not grieve.  Even when a few days after her death, I received a letter from her and a poem she wanted me to read at her funeral, I did not grieve.  Months later, while looking through a box of her books, I found a dog-eared cookbook with her notes scribbled in the margins.  My mother was a terrible cook.  Mom often tried to tackle difficult recipes. Recipes to my mom were more like suggestions or guidelines and she substituted ingredients if she did not have them on hand. The results were unpalatable.  While reading her notes,  I laughed and cried.  I cried big, nose dripping, wracking sobs. I remembered her famous bunny cake that looked like roadkill, her buttermilk cucumber soup that had neither buttermilk or cucumbers in it.  I see my mother everyday in the corners of my life now. She is with me more in death than she was in life. Because I invite her in, she steps out of the shadows and stands by me.

 

King Luke

Mario in his last days on the farm

We said goodbye to our canine farmhands and pets Marly, Luke and Mario.

Marly joins the NBA

 


Lost Laugh We recently lost a good friend and neighbor - Grace Marie.  When Grace laughed, a throaty, open mouthed, teeth flashing laugh, my heart grew three sizes.  I loved to make Grace laugh.  I opened her trunk the other day hoping somehow she had stowed a vestige of her laugh there.  I pawed through the clothes and books - no laugh.  I have no doubt that Grace Marie and her laugh will grace our lives in someway, someday.

We welcomed Tyrion to our home this summer. Tryion is a Rhodesian Ridgeback. The breed was developed in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.  The Ridgeback is also known as the African lion hound because of its ability to keep a lion at bay while waiting for its master’s arrival to make the kill. The breed is also known for its great physical endurance.  Tyrion excels in endurance eating and sleeping.  

To Market to Market ...

We participated in three additional farmers markets this year in Westchester and Brooklyn.  We enjoyed increased sales in Pakatakan and were disappointed by mediocre sales in Oneonta.  More markets meant more products and the Fable Kitchen, when we were not doing Fable Saturday dinners and private dinners, was churning out pot pies, soups, stews, pates and sauces.  The big seller this year was old fashioned chicken pot pies.  Without a sheet roller or pie press, 24 pies took 48 hours as each pie is individually made.  I can make a pot pie blindfolded…

If we don’t bring products to the market, we can’t sell them, thus the farm store was often lightly stocked on the weekends.  After a few misunderstandings or thefts (you choose) we made the store much smaller and limited the number of products for sale.  So now customers can’t make the mistake of paying $3.21 for a 3.21 lb leg of lamb with a price tag of $35.  But even after cordoning off the back of the store, people were still raiding the off-limit freezers and leaving pennies for their purchases.    Since we can’t “man” the store all the time, in 2017, the store will be open only to those who call ahead. If you can think of a better solution, we would love to consider your suggestions.

Eggsactly what we needed and Exactly what we didn’t

Broiler Shack

Skunks, rats, weasels, minks, fishers, dogs, hawks, eagles and coyotes are some of the most tenacious predators on the farm. The Maremmas do a superior job of keeping our livestock safe but even with their vigilance, predators sneak by.   The most “in-demand” item at our farmers markets are eggs.  We bought 200 new egg layer poults.  After a couple of months, a weasel killed most of them.  We erected barriers, barricades and finally set traps.  The weasel won. We moved the remaining hens from the weasel’s territory.  The poultry (both egg layers and broilers) graze during the day and at sunset are herded into cabins to keep them safe from night predators. Made from scrap wood, the cabins or shacks are efficient but don't win architectural beauty awards.

Chicken Kiva

Riley has been raising chickens for eggs and meat since he was 9 years old.  A Kiva loan enabled him to expand his poultry operation. We doubled the number of pastured broiler chickens we grew and processed. Thank you to everyone who loaned him money and helped make his business a success.

 Sheep and Guinea Fowl
A local shepherdess sold us her flock of sheep. She wanted them to be raised on pasture and to lamb in the spring.  We added a new bad boy to the flock - a texel/dorset ram.  We are looking forward to seeing his offspring in spring.  We raised guinea fowl for the first time this summer. The meat is dark and tastes like a cross between turkey and pheasant. Guinea fowl can fly fast and far. We raised them in portable pasture pens but when the lid was left open - about 30 escaped.  They are now free ranging.  They taunt us with their high pitched, insistent call knowing we will never catch them.

Farm Stay and Fable

The highlights of the season were the families we hosted in the farmhouse suite and farmhand cabin.    We had so much fun with the Guest Chef and Theme Dinners and look forward to more farm and food adventures in 2017.  We’re thinking Medieval Feast in autumn.  Spit roasted meats. Fireside dinner. No utensils. Bones thrown to the hounds. Ale and mead.  

Highland Cow skull

Enjoy the winter.  We will spend the time conjuring up more Farm and Fable adventures to share with you in 2017.

Hidden Pictures - find the hens, gazing ball, tractor and border collie

Turkey Strut

Ram Bust

March Melt: Shorn Sheep

Sheep Shearing
Q: How many sheep can a sheep shearer shear when a sheep shearer shears sheep?   A: About 10 sheep per hour solo. 

The sheep were scheduled to be shorn in February but the below zero temps, snow, ice and wind made us put off the task until March.  The sheep are due to lamb in mid March and it's important to have them shorn or at least crutched, so the lambs can find the ewes' udders quickly. With heavy fleece, the lambs suck on wool tags and can die trying to find a nipple.  When the temperatures are moderate in March, especially when the sun is warm, the ewes are warmer without their coats. Their thick wool coats are heavy with dampness and if they are in the barn for a couple of weeks while they are bonding with their lambs, the moisture in their fleece creates an unhealthy environment in the barn.  So off with their wool.  We worked straight through the morning gathering, sorting and shearing sheep and then paused for a shearer's lunch of curried sweet potato soup, fresh bread, salad and mince meat pie.  Ty, the three year old border collie, did a yeoman's job of working the sheep in and out of pens.  The wool was sorted, bagged and stored for wool pool on Labor Day weekend.

Before Shearing     photo Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Shearer photo by Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Tom  photo by Gerry Gomez Pearlbery

Shorn Sheep
The sheep are sporting their new look in the barn yard.  The livestock guardian dogs are keeping an eye on them.

Fat Shorn Sheep

Shorn Sheep with LGDs

For Rent: Rustic Bird House

Wanted Avian Tenant for Rustic Bird House.  Location: Antique maple tree on footpath of farmhouse in East Meredith,New York. Excellent views of dairy barns and pasture. Must like farm animals, dogs and people.  Free to the right tenant.  Single mothers preferred.

We're not Kidding. We ARE Kidding
First ten dairy goats kidded during the coldest weeks of the year in mid-February. If we hadn't whisked them away at birth to dry them and warm them up, they would have perished in 12 below zero temperatures.  The good news is that they all survived; the bad news is that their moms wouldn't take them back so we have bottle fed kid goats in the house. 

What's for Dinner?
All winter we've been attending the Down to Earth Markets' Mamaroneck Farmers Market. In a couple of weeks, we resume the Park Slope and McGolrick Park Farmers Markets in Brooklyn.  As spring tiptoes in, we will offer, in addition to our retail cuts of meats, pates, meat pies, leaf lard, bone broth, soup stock.   Local farmers markets open in May. In the meantime, our farm store is always open.

607 CSA Collaboration
Another great way to buy local food. We are collaborating with Star Route Farm, Berry Brook Farm, Painted Goat Farm and other local farms to bring you fresh, farm food. Through the CSA, we are offering a pastured chicken share,  beef share, meat pie share and lots of a la carte products.  For more information about the 607 CSA   http://www.the607csa.com/

Grass Fed Ground Beef    photo by Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Geese, Guests and Goodness Gracious

FARM

Duck Duck Goose

June in Driveway Puddle

Mallory the Mallard

Did you know that a group of ducks is called a badelynge, bunch, brace, flock, paddling, raft or team? It is also called a dover of ducks.   I like the last best.  We have a dover of Muscovy ducks taking over the farm.   A brood hatched last year and it looks like there will be more if we don’t curtail their population explosion.  I found a clutch of eggs last week.  The sensible thing to do is to destroy the nest.  The softie in me can’t do it.  So in a few days, if my calculations are right, we will once again be overtaken with ducks.    The farm has one mallard duck named Mallory who has been hanging out with the goose June. June’s mate was hit by a snowplow last winter and it's been difficult finding a male goose.  Last week we bought a male goose.  June ignored him and he ran away.  She preferred the mallard to the male goose.  June has been fickle lately, preferring our livestock guardian dog Smith as company, so I bought another duck for the mallard. The duck Emmaline (who looks like an Indian Runner but smaller) won’t have anything to do with the mallard so she lives in the pasture with the Pekin ducks and the broiler chickens.  The Pekins are scheduled for slaughter this week which will leave Emma without duck pals.  Perhaps we should keep one Pekin as her companion?  I am spending too much time meddling in poultry partnerships.

June and Smith

Muscovy sitting on eggs

Clutch of Duck Eggs in Tree Hollow

Good Guests; Ghastly Guests

Our schedule is so hectic that we seldom get a chance to get off the farm and see the world.  We are fortunate because the bed and breakfast, farm stay and Fable bring the world to us.  We’ve had the pleasure of meeting people from varied backgrounds, cultures, religions. Most guests have been interesting, fun and a joy to host.  And then there is the occasional “guest from hell.” Sometimes a guest is irritable, demanding and unpleasant and even when we bend over backwards to please them, nothing makes them happy. Recently we had a new kind of guest from hell.  They didn’t want to have anything to do with the farm, left breakfast untouched and drove away without saying goodbye. In a follow up conversation, I was lambasted with complaints about the farm, room and food, in particular, they wanted bacon for breakfast and I served them sausage because we were out of bacon until the next pig is slaughtered.  He advised that I should have bought bacon from the supermarket in anticipation that a guest would want bacon and put it in the freezer.  When I explained that the food we serve is grown and raised on the farm and I was not going to serve factory animal crap to my guests, his response was that we should serve what the guests want not what we want.  I didn’t say, but I wanted to say, “You are the wrong type of guests for us.”  I am so used to guests and customers who really care about the food they eat and where it comes from that I forget that there is a huge population that doesn’t give a hoot about what they eat.  And as crazy as it seems, they don’t associate bacon with a pig.   So the guest from hell was a learning lesson for us.   We attract guests who are interested in the farm, care about their food and how it is raised and care about their health. How do we vet and discourage the guest who eats Ding Dongs and thinks bacon comes from Price Chopper?

Sometimes guests leave behind socks, sweaters or books but this is the best leave behind: a message written on the Farmhand Cabin chalkboard. 

Frank, Silvia and Max's Good Guest Message

 

Newcomer

This handsome boy will service the ewes this fall.  The breed we use for a ram is different every year.  We look for a ram that will produce good meat quality lambs and he fits all the criteria.  Looking forward to his offspring next year.

Roy the Ram

Tom wrote an article about farmers markets in The New Franklin Register this month. The subject is that farmers markets are good for the customers but not necessarily for farmers. 

Page 6 T he New Franklin Register Summer 2014

By Tom and Denise Warren

We have been selling

our grass-fed meats

and eggs for twenty years

at three regional farmers’

markets. During that time,

especially over the past

three years, there has been

an explosion of interest in

buying local foods, mostly

due to a new awareness of

the importance of knowing

how our food is raised, harvested

and sold.

Ten years ago, there

were three farmers’ markets

in our region: Cooperstown,

Pakatakan and

Oneonta. These centralized

markets attracted customers

from several surrounding

counties and provided

strong, consistent revenue

for the participating farmers.

Today, every town

and hamlet is determined

to host a farmers’ market.

In Delaware and Otsego

counties, there are currently

twenty-one. In fact,

the number of farmers’

markets in New York has

increased from 235 in 2000

to 521 as of August 2012,

according to the New York

State Department of Agriculture

and Markets.

The good news is that

there is growing interest in

local foods, and it is handy

for the customer to have

“round the bend” access to

farm fresh food.

But maybe not such

good news for the farmers.

The number of customers

in our region who seek

farm-fresh food at farmers’

markets is growing, but

slowly, and the number of

markets is outpacing the

customer base. The relatively

small number of dedicated

customers is now

divided between a larger

and growing number of

farmers’ markets.

New York City is home

to 148 farmers’ markets.

That’s about 56,000 people

for every market. In Delaware

and Otsego counties,

there are 5,200 people for

every farmers’ market.

While there is no direct

data to support this theory,

we believe that a greater

percentage of people in

New York City shop year

round at farmers’ markets

than do locally.

A great benefit of small

town farmers’ markets is

that a market creates a

community, a space for

people to gather and socialize.

It creates an opportunity

for added income

for small-scale or part-time

farmers. But can this scattering

of farmers’ markets

support the full time farmer,

and will these markets

survive as more participating

farmers realize that he/

she is not getting a reasonable

return on his/her investment

of time and money?

Small farmers’ markets

tend to host only a handful

of farmer-vendors, while

larger, centralized markets

can support twenty to thirty

vendors.

There is also an environmental

cost. If a farmer

travels twenty or thirty

miles to a market to sell just

$200 to $300 of product, it

becomes a carbon intensive

endeavor.

An informal survey

conducted at the farmers’

markets in which we participate

indicates that vendors

have to sell at twice

as many markets as they

did five years ago, just to

maintain the same level of

revenue. And vendors’ expenses

are high, including

transportation, labor, market

fees, market materials

and signage. All the while,

the farmers’ incomes are

shrinking.

So, while the growing

number of farmers’ markets

may be good for communities

and customers, it may

not be best for farmers.

 

FABLE

Fable has been full with Saturday night dinners, Sunday brunches and private dinners and breakfasts.  Thank you so much for filling our kitchen with your praise, laughter and good companionship. We are having fun seeing familiar faces and meeting new people.  

Strawberries

It's strawberry season and we can't get enough. We are making strawberry margarita jam, strawberry balsamic jam, strawberry scones, strawberry short cake.... At Fable's dinner last week, we made Sorrel Strawberry Sorbet. Amazing.

 

Sorrel-Strawberry Sorbet

Makes 1 quart.

For super-smooth sorbet, churn this recipe in an ice cream maker. For a treat just as refreshing but studded with icy crystals, simply stick the mixture in your freezer. Freeze this sorbet in ice pop forms instead for children.

Ingredients:

1 quart fresh (or frozen) strawberries, hulled

2/3 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped sorrel

Instructions: 

In a mixing bowl, stir together the strawberries and sugar. Cover and set aside for an hour. Purée strawberries with their juices and the sorrel in a blender, then press the mixture through a sieve to remove seeds and large pieces of sorrel. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for an hour. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Or pop the mixture into a shallow, freezer-safe pan and freeze it. Scrape with a fork to break up ice crystals every half-hour to an hour until it is fully frozen, about 4 to 6 hours

Looking forward to seeing you at the farmers markets, farm store, at Fable for dinner or brunch or enjoying your summer out and about the countryside.

Tom, Denise, Shane

The White Cedar Bee Tree